The twittering of some bird woke Zane the next morning. When he opened his eyes he nearly jumped up from surprise. Right in front of his face was Mira's, lying on her long red hair as if it was a pillow, both of her tender arms wrapped around him, not letting go. Her mouth was slightly open and Zane could feel the movement of her chest as she breathed. Zane could also feel the soft feeling of one of her nine, nearly snow-white tails on his cheek.

What? Was I dreaming? No . . . somehow she feels . . . warmer.

He let his gaze wander down her body. Her shoulders were bare and the rest of her body hidden by clothes that laid on them like a blanket. Zane also didn't remember laying on his right side. He tried moving the clothes away but nothing happened. A feeling of weakness began spreading through his body at a rapid speed as if something had sucked all his energy and stamina right out of him. He tried again but nothing happened.

When Zane looked at his left arm he realized that it wasn't the weakness that was keeping him from moving away the clothes. It was the fact that there was no arm there that could move away those clothes in the first place. When he looked at the thin layer of skin that had already grown and through which he could still see the colour of the flesh beneath he felt sick as if he had to throw up. It took him the little strength he had left not to throw up onto Mira who lay next to him, pressing her body against his with all her might.

In the background, Zane could hear the crackling of fire which was nearly drowned out by the twittering of the bird that had woken him. It irritated him and made him feel uncomfortable.

So that wasn't a dream eh?

Zane couldn't help himself but start chuckling. He wasn't able to stop himself. Even to his own ears, he sounded like a crazy person.

I'm pathetic. Losing to someone like him . . . needing her to safe me.

He rolled onto his back, Mira's hand dragging across his chest and her tail over his face. His right arm was partially buried beneath her so he still couldn't move it. The feeling was strange. It was as if his left arm was still there. He felt himself moving it, but there was no real movement. His chuckling became louder as he stared up at the wooden ceiling with the few lanterns hanging down from it.

Truly pathetic . . . and now she's even taking care of me, making sure my temperature doesn't sink too much.

Mira suddenly began moving. She lifted her leg and put it onto Zane's along with a few of her soft tails. A soft moan escaped her lips as she moved.

Must be having a good dream.

Zane felt something warm on his face. Tears. Tears were beginning to roll down his face as he stared up at the ceiling. He was now chuckling at the same time he was crying.

Why? Why did it have to end up like this? This is my fault, isn't it? I'm the one who spared that guys life. I'm the one who needed to be saved by a god . . . a god of all things. This is all my fault. This is the world telling me that I've made the wrong choices.

Zane turned his head and looked at Mira.

At least she didn't get hurt during this whole thing. At least she didn't get hurt because of my bad decisions. Truly it's strange. I know that it's bad for her to be with me, with someone who has made so many enemies in the past. But I still want her to be with me. I still don't want her to be somewhere else. Why is that? Is what she said true? Did I fall in love with her? Or is this something else? Ah, what do I know? I never knew what I wanted. Vin usually tells me what it is that I need. And I usually refuse to listen to him. This time I listened to him. I did what I really wanted to do. And it led me to this point. A point where I once again regret what I did. But at least what I told him is true. I'm a selfish asshole. Even though I know that bad things will continue to happen because of me I still don't want her to go.

He had stopped chuckling and there were no more tears running down his face. In the time he had focused on his thoughts Mira had continued to move around. She had begun to rub her body against his. He felt her breasts rub against the side of his upper body. The leg she had laid over his had begun to move as well.

What's wrong with her? This can't simply be a nice dream.

"Mira?" Zane said. "Are you alright?"

Mira let out a moan in response. Zane tried to shake her. But then he remembered that his left arm was missing and his right arm was buried beneath her. He tried to pull it out from under her. In the process of him trying to do so, Mira opened her eyes. First the light blue one, then the yellowish one.

Tears began rolling down her face and she immediately jumped up, making the clothes that had served as a blanket fall to the ground and lay down on top of Zane with her entire upper body, holding on to him as tightly as she could.

"W-What's wrong?" Zane asked, putting his right hand on her back, which was shaking.

"Y-You . . . you're alive," Mira said.

"I am," Zane replied.

"I was so worried. When you lost your arm and . . . and . . . you wouldn't wake up for so long. It's been days. But . . . b-but I kept on supporting you. I-I fed you, I gave you water, I gave you w-Warmth. And you're alive!" Mira said, with a shaky voice.

"Thank you," Zane said with a smile on his face.

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"I-I was . . . I was so worried you wouldn't make it. Three days, you've been asleep for three days. A-And I . . . I didn't know if I cou-" Mira continued.

Zane sat up and put his remaining arm around Mira, pulling her close to him.

"It's alright, I'm fine. You don't have to worry anymore," Zane said.

A "mm," left Mira's lips as she put her head against his chest.

When Zane let go of her and lay back down he could see her full body. She wore a white brassiere. The cloth it was made of was so thin around the front of her breasts that he could see right through to her pink nipples. There was a pattern on the see-through part of the brassiere made with a slightly thicker layer of cloth. He slowly let his gaze wander down her body. Her stomach was flat and he could see hints of abs. She wore a white piece of undergarment to cover her privates. Just like the brassiere, it was mostly see-through at the front with a pattern on it.

Zane now also noticed a slightly wet feeling on his leg, exactly at the spot where Mira's lower half pressed against his leg. When he looked back up at her face he saw a strange look on her face. It was half embarrassment half excitement. Her eyes seemed strangely excited as well.

"Is everything alright?" Zane asked.

"Yeah . . . it's just that . . . that my . . . time for the season has come," Mira explained.

"Your . . . time?" Zane asked with a confused look on his face.

"You know, the time of the season," Mira said.

"I-I . . ." Zane began. "Oh . . . that's what you mean, sorry."

Must be difficult . . . going through that out here.

"T-That also made it . . . more difficult to take care of you," Mira said as she began fidgeting while still sitting on his legs.

"Must be difficult for you," Zane said.

"It's really f-fine, just slight discomfort and . . . you know," she said.

"Anyway . . . I think we should continue on if we want to reach the village. There we'll also have a better place to stay," Zane said.

He tried to get up but Mira didn't move at all, rather she tightened her legs around his, making it difficult for him to move with the feeling of weakness still remaining.

"I don't think you should move yet," Mira said, trying to make her face look as serious as she could.

"It's fine, don't worry about me, worry more about you. Can you travel like that?" Zane asked.

"No, you're not making this about me," Mira said. "We need to make sure that you're completely fine and that it's safe for you to travel."

"I told you, I'm fine," Zane said. "Now would you please let me get up? I'm hungry and would like to eat something."

"I won't! You wait here, I will get you something to eat and to drink, you just wait here," Mira said as she got up from his legs, grabbed the coat he had given her, put it on and went out of the hut.

Wait if I was out for three days then . . . shouldn't it be . . . no, no, no, no. As long as I don't think about it there's no problem . . . right? Yeah, let's just forget about that.

Zane kept staring at the door, waiting for Mira to return. He reached out with his right hand, looking at it.

At least I'll still be able to fight . . .

After a short while, the door of the small hut opened again and Mira came in, carrying a few rilvets, carrying them with the coat.

"T-This . . . this is all we have as food right now," Mira said.

"Right," Zane answered.

Mira took off the coat, again revealing her body which was as good as fully nude, and putting it down on the mattress. Then she sat down on the mattress beside him and pushed him back into a lying position when he tried to sit up.

"J-Just stay as you are, I'll f-feed you," Mira said.

Zane noticed that she was still fidgeting.

"Are you sure you're alright? Do you need rest or anything?" Zane asked.

"I nee-" Mira began but she stopped herself. "No, I don't need anything. Just let me take care of you for now so we can continue our travels as soon as possible."

"A-Are you su-" Zane began but Mira interrupted him.

"Yes, yes I am. Now let me feed you," Mira said with a straight face.

Zane's face turned slightly red in response. Mira held a rilvet to his mouth and Zane took bite after bite. Once he had finished the first fruit Mira gave him a second, then a third and eventually a fourth. When she was done feeding him she took one for herself.

"So, when should we continue?" Zane asked.

"I-I don't think we should today. I mean . . . you just woke up . . . and I'm currently at the peak," Mira said.

"How much longer does it last?" Zane asked.

"A-A few days . . . m-maybe a week . . . or two in total," Mira answered.

"When did it start?" Zane asked.

"Around when we left," Mira said. "That's also why they waited so long after h-his birthday. W-Well that and . . . and the old story."

Zane noticed that her fidgeting became worse.

So they wanted her as vulnerable as possible so Xavier wouldn't have any problems bedding her . . . nobles really are scum.

"Are you sure there is nothing that helps?" Zane asked.

"N-Nothing you can help with," Mira said.

"I see," he said. "But we can't wait for it to end. I feel well enough to go on, it depends on you."

"A-Are you sure that you can do it?" Mira asked with a concerned look on her face.

Zane nodded.

"How long will it take until we reach the next w-waypoint?" Mira asked.

"A few hours."

Zane looked out of one of the windows. The sun was still low.

"If we go now we'll be there by nightfall," Zane said.

For a few seconds, Mira was quiet, the only sounds she made was the occasional groan and moan that managed to slip past her lips.

"F-Fine," she eventually said. "I guess it's better if we don't stay here too long. I mean h-he could come back."

Zane nodded with a look of rage on his face.

"C-Can you stand?" she asked.

Zane slowly got up from the ground. As soon as he stood up straight he felt his body tilt to the right.

"Guess that's the best I can manage for now," he said.

Zane walked over to the table where his armour was and began putting it on. But he quickly noticed that it was too difficult for him to do so with only one arm.

"Would you mind helping me out here?" Zane asked.

"Right, of course," Mira said as she got up from the mattress and walked over to him.

She helped him put on his armour and belt with his weapons and satchels. Once she was done she put on her clothes while Zane put his gauntlet into one of the satchels.

Guess I won't be able to use that anymore . . . maybe someone over at Kross can make it into a hand for Mira.

Once the two of them finished putting on everything they left the hut. The sun shone down on them. Zane had trouble walking which made it difficult for him to walk over the suspension bridge. Mira had to often help him cross bridges even though she had trouble walking as well. His body leaned to the right the entire time and his back muscles began to hurt by the time the sun slowly began to disappear behind the mountaintops. When they finally reached the next waypoint the moon with a slightly purplish colour, had already appeared.

The hut of this waypoint had been built into the trunk of a large willow-like tree that covered the entire platform it was on along with multiple smaller platforms that were around it. They walked over to the heavy looking door and opened it. The inside was similar to that of the last hut. But there was only one, much larger, window in this one and the walls were rounded. The mattress laid in the middle of the room with a table next to it and a small fireplace close to it. Lanterns were hanging down from the ceiling.

Zane felt the sleepiness creep up in him as soon as he saw the mattress and he slowly made his way over to it. The sleepiness completely drowned out all of his hunger. He fell onto the mattress and was asleep immediately.